High Voltage infrastructure construction and installation
Client
Energy Resources of Australia (ERA)
Energy Resources of Australia (ERA)
ERA is part of the Rio Tinto Group, and this project saw us work on site with
operational teams from ERA and engineering consultants Worley.
Context and scope
The team at Instalec Group have delivered a significant number of specialist High Voltage construction and installation projects. This has included the Brine Concentrator (BC3) Fan upgrade which was completed over nine months in 2019-2020 and cost approximately $3M to deliver.
The BC3 Fan upgrade was a key water treatment system upgrade project as part of the pre-works for the rehabilitation program at Ranger Mine for Energy Resources of Australia. The Brine Concentrator is a critical asset as it is the biggest water treatment plant on site. This was a brownfield project with the intent to increase the Brine Concentrator capacity by 20% by upgrading the third train of the Brine Concentrator.
Project overview
The upgrade project required the Instalec Group team to:
- Work with the Worley engineering team, in the design phase on constructability aspects of the upgrade and how to integrate the installation into existing infrastructure.
- Procure cable, support systems, cable trays, conduits and all materials and equipment required.
- Install High Voltage 11kV supply and 6.6kV vapour compression fan motor.
- Install substation, undertake civil works between power station and support rack.
- Install various heat exchangers, upgrade various pumps, transformers, and the switch room.
- Install associated Electrical, Instrumentation and Control infrastructure and communication (fibre optics) assets.
- Testing and commissioning of all equipment and instrumentation, including High Voltage testing, and Low Voltage instrumentation, control, and communication infrastructure.
- Handover package which included inspection and test reports (ITRs), as-constructed plans, and master data register for the project.
Operational complexity
To successfully deliver the upgrade, our team mapped out the stages of project delivery, managed procurement, and provided the people and equipment resources to complete the works to the required milestones, ERA site standards and Australian Electrical Standards. Our team applied their comprehensive understanding of mining High Voltage infrastructure including High Voltage isolations and operational site procedures. This means we could shut down parts of plant whilst in operation so that there was minimal impact on water treatment output and critical time frames could be met.
The project was delivered in six phases including:
- Pre-works with the procurement of materials and mobilisation to site.
- Pre-shutdown Electrical and Instrumentation Construction works.
- Shutdown 1 with isolations/de-commissioning of existing equipment for disconnection.
- Shutdown 2 of the entire Brine Concentrator facility for final tie-ins, installation of required equipment, associated works, testing and commissioning.
- Post Completion with defects/punch listing, test documentation, redline drawings and Product Data Sheet/manuals.
- End of construction commissioning to assist site engineers in bringing the plant into operation and provide ongoing technical support.
In summary
Our specialist High Voltage Electricians and Supervisors managed the interface of the upgrade with the ERA operational and mechanical teams. The unique service Instalec Group provides to such projects is that electrically we can offer all electrical life cycle aspects and technical trades in house. From High Voltage electrical switching and isolations which requires specialist qualifications, experience and switching procedures, to our High Voltage diagnostics, testing and commissioning.
